Have you ever entertained registering a domain name containing your personal name, maybe to market your trade or hobby or to post personal information for your family and friends, only to find that someone else has snatched up the name? Hey, that’s your name! Can you get it back?
You might be one of the many who recently lost a job. And you might be one of the many who’s turned lemons into a lemonade stand and parlayed unemployment into that new business you’ve always dreamed of launching.
As a writer of songs and books, I, too, have had that frustrating experience of coming up with what I think is the most brilliant, original idea in the world, only to find my idea mimicked in my local bookstore or on my car radio.
Not so fast. Before you can get trademark protection in the next great catchphrase or symbol, you need to use it as a trademark. Just having a great idea in a vacuum doesn’t allow you to claim it as your own. To use a word, phrase or logo as a trademark, you need to use it “in commerce” in connection with a particular product or service
Having just jumped on the Twitter bandwagon (barely catching it as it sped by my old-fashioned self), I’m still learning how to “tweet” — and even what “tweeting” means. Twitter’s attempt to register TWEET as a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is a good old-fashioned lesson, though, on the word game that is the federal trademark application process and why you should consider consulting a lawyer before assuming that, just because you’ve thought of the greatest trademark since COCA-COLA, you can use it risk-free and register it without a hitch.
Yikes, all! The good news is I’ve been practicing what I preach and applying some of my intellectual-property knowledge to my own life, as I pursue some lightbulb moments of my own. The bad news is I’ve failed to share any lightbulb moments in this blog! Today’s a short one, with more frequent contributions to follow. (I promise!)
So, you’ve done it. You’ve created this thing, this good, perhaps something the average American consumer isn’t aware she needs yet, but once she sees it, oh, she’ll need it. Or perhaps you’ve started a business through which you offer a unique service — the product of hours of research and development.
Do you hear that? D.J.s are dusting off their turntables…florists are snipping away at stems…wedding season is upon us. Soon, your mailbox will begin filling up with those telltale envelopes-within-envelopes.
We are proud to picture the fabulous artwork of Leigh Ann Agee in this blog entry. Leigh Ann is a Nashville-based artist and creator of the Girl In the Moon series. Her artwork, notecards and T-shirts are available at this link.
In our last post, we addressed the legal implications of using architecture or a landmark in a painting or similar artistic work. This month, we
